A Brief Moment of Glory...

   Somethings are so fleeting...like magnolia blossoms.  For just a few days they are at their peak and then they let loose.  They kind of  explode, fluttering to the ground like giant confetti.  So many people will not plant magnolias for this very reason.  "What a mess!"  they say.

   But I think there is a powerful lesson in the magnolia flower.  We all have just a relatively brief moment to bloom.  To show the world our beauty.  To bask in the sunshine and then, and sometimes very suddenly, it can be all over.

   I would rather see these magnificent flowers for just a few days; to look forward to their reemergence each year, than to dwell on their demise.  I have to say that one of things I took away from my Threshold Pilgrimage was this sense of embracing these brief, glorious moments.

   Standing under this tree, as the petals fell, was a lovely experience.  I was so thankful for the message those falling petals had for me.  Savor those golden moments and don't dwell on the inevitable.

The tragedy of life is not death but what

we let die inside of us while we live.

- Norman Cousins